She loves him she loves him not
by magnoliasims
Summary: Micky Dolenz meets the love of his life. But Lori is hiding a secret, one that she fears if Micky finds out, will end their relationship for good. (For the sake of the story I have given Peter a sister).
1. Chapter 1

Lana and Lori walked up to the front door of the Monkees pad. Lana knocked, she was tall with long shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes. Lori had brown hair a bit longer then Lana's, and brown eyes, she was shorter than Lana by a few inches. She had been living with Lana for a couple of weeks and the two of them had become really close friends. Lori was born in America but had spent the previous five years living in England with her father. Her mother had died when she was only two and Lori had spent a lot of her life moving around. She had returned to America, with her dads blessing, because she missed it so much.

"Hi Lan, out here" Called a voice from the veranda. To Lori the voice had sounded Texan, which meant it probably belonged to Mike, Lana's ex who she was still close friends with.

The Monkees pad was not at all what Lori had suspected. The living room and kitchen were all in one big room, a few feet in front of the front door was a spiral staircase that led up to only one room, the furniture didn't match, there were a lot of posters and signs on the walls that Lori guessed were probably hiding cracked plaster. At the back of the room there was a large bay window, in front of that was a makeshift bandstand that was littered with all kinds of instrument most of which, Lana informed her, belonged to Lana's brother Peter.

As they walked out the back door the Texan guy stood up, he was tall and quite thin with a green wool hat perched on his head and thick ebony hair was present beneath it, Lori's suspicions were confirmed when Lana said. "Hi Mike how are you?"

"I'm great thanks shotgun" Mike replied he leaned forward and kissed Lana on the cheek.

"Mike, I want you to meet a friend of mine. Mike Nesmith meet Lori Tyler, Lori is my new room mate."

"Hi Lori nice to meet you" Mike said he offered his hand. Lori took it and shook it.

"You too, Mike. I've heard a lot about you guys," She told him.

"So Mike where's that brother of mine?" Lana asked.

"He's out running some errands at the moment he shouldn't be too long" And as if on cue the front door threw open and a guy came flying in followed by a tall blond guy who was almost the image of Lana. The guy in front was taller then the blond guy but not as tall as Mike, he had brown curly hair and was running around the living room then he bolted up the spiral staircase.

The blond guy put down some groceries and then called "Michael? Are you here?"

"Out here Pete" Mike replied. Peter came out on to the veranda. He saw his friend, his sister and a girl he didn't recognize.

"Hi guys," He said.

"Peter this is my new room mate Lori Tyler" Lana said.

"Hi Peter nice to meet you" Lori said.

"Nice to meet you too, Lori, I've been wanting to meet you ever since Lana told me she was getting a new room mate" They shook hands.

"I just can't believe how much you guys look a like" Lori said looking from Peter to Lana and then back to Peter again "I would swear you were twins!"

"Na I'm much better looking then Peter" Lana said. Mike laughed.

"I second that" He said. Lana looked at him and thanked him with out saying a word. Mike and Lana still loved each other very much but they knew their relationship would not work.

"If Lori's been here a couple of weeks how come you've only just got round to bringing her to see us?" Peter asked Lana.

"Well she's been busy settling in, right Lor?"

"Yeah that's right I just needed time to set into a routine and now I am I couldn't wait to meet you guys" Lori told them "So who was that guy who came bolting in the front door?" She added.

"That was Micky, he's got a lot of energy and he charges about quite a lot" Mike explained as he walked over to the door "Mick get down here" He called.

"Where's Davy?" Lana asked.

"Out on a date" Mike said.

"But it's eleven thirty in the morning" Lori said looking at her watch.

"Yeah we know but when you meet Davy you'll understand, he's very popular with the girls around here" Peter said. Lori felt a little confused and also very intrigued. Just then there was a loud crash and the four of them jumped round in shock to find Micky laying face down on the floor by the door.

"Micky! What happened?" Lana asked.

"I tripped over Peter's dumb bass again," He said lifting his face up and eyeing Lori for the first time. He shot up and dusted himself down. Peter rushed inside to check his beloved bass guitar "Lana who's your friend?" Micky asked.

"Oh sorry, Micky Dolenz this is my room mate Lori Tyler, Lori Tyler meet Micky Dolenz."

"Well what a way to make a first impression" Micky said he extended his hand "nice to meet you Lori" He walked over and suddenly got a proper look at her and couldn't help but note mentally how beautiful she was. Lori took his hand.

"Nice to meet you too Micky, I hope you didn't hurt yourself."

"No don't worry about it, I landed on my head," He told her. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was, she took his breath away and he was trying so hard to make a good impression. Peter re-joined them cradling his guitar.

"How's it doing?" Lana asked. Peter was glaring at Micky.

"It's okay but you should've been more careful, Mick."

"Hey, it's not my fault, man, you shouldn't have left it the middle of the floor" Micky protested.

"He's got a point there, Pete" Mike told him. The whole time Lori was watching Micky. She had been attracted to him at once and as he continued to argue with Peter she couldn't take her eyes off him. Lana had noticed this and was watching Lori in amusement. After Micky and Peter had argued for a few minutes Mike interjected.

"Guys come on this is no way to behave in front of our guest" he told them placing an arm around Lori's shoulder. Micky and Peter stopped arguing.

"Sorry Mike, sorry Lori" They said.

"Don't worry about it" Lori told them. Lana couldn't help but feel a little jealous at Mike standing there with his arm around Lori, she knew it was innocent but the pang still filled her body.

Although she had an immediate attraction to Micky, Lori found Mike really interesting and while the others had migrated inside Mike and Lori had stayed outside engrossed in deep conversation. Again this had bothered Lana. She sat at the kitchen table with Micky and Peter staring out at the two forms outside as they giggled and laughed at each other as more jealousy coursed through her body.

"I wouldn't worry about them Lan" Came her brothers voice from beside her and he placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"I'm not, Pete, I'm okay" She said.

"So why have you done nothing but stare at them for the past half hour?" He asked. Lana sighed.

"I'm a little jealous okay, I still love Mike and I hate to see him that happy with another woman" She explained.

"She's not another woman, she's your room mate I don't think she's doing it on purpose they just get on well that's all."

"I know but I can't help how I feel can I" Lana told him "I expect you'd feel the same if Micky was alone with your ex."

"No offence, Lan, but his girlfriends aren't really my type" Micky said.

"I'm just using you as an example Mick" Lana said with a smile.

What Lana and Peter didn't know was that Micky felt the same way, he had jealousy coursing through his body but he was doing a better job at hiding it. He wanted desperately for Lori to come back inside but she looked like she was having such a good time with his Texan friend. Then the front door opened and a short guy with longish brown hair came in.

"Hi Davy, date over already?" Peter asked.

"Yeah we broke up," He said.

"Oh sorry babe" Micky said.

"Don't worry about it no big deal" Davy replied "Hi Lana nice to see you."

"Hi Davy" Lana was pleased Davy was home now because she could drag Lori away from Mike without having to make up an excuse.

"I want you to meet some one stay right there" She said.

"Oh sure okay" Davy replied a little intrigued. Lana went out to Mike and Lori.

"Hey guys, Lori come and meet Davy" She said. Mike looked at his watch.

"He's back early," He said.

"They broke up," Lana explained. She grabbed Lori's arm and guided her into the kitchen and Mike followed.

"Sorry to hear about you and your girlfriend breaking up, shotgun" Mike told Davy.

"Thanks Mike I'm okay we had a fun three days" he said, "who's this lovely young lady?" He asked. Lori could quite clearly hear a Manchester accent in Davy's voice.

"This is Lori Tyler, Lori this is Davy Jones" Lana said.

"Nice to meet you Lori" He said he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. Now Lori understood why Davy was popular with the girls, he was quite charming.

"You too Davy" She said.

"Davy is from England originally Lor" Lana explained.

"I thought so, Manchester right?" She asked.

"Yeah that's right" Davy answered.

"I've just come back from living in London for five years" Lori told him.

"Oh really why did you leave?"

"I got home sick mostly, I didn't like being away from America," She told him.

The four boys and two girls sat in the kitchen and had a good chat. Lori really liked the boys she got on really well with Mike and she and Davy talked a lot about England. She could tell Peter and Lana got on really well and she wished she had a brother or sister to be that close with but she was an only child. As for Micky, she liked him a lot but she felt to nervous to speak to him directly, they had a four way conversation at one point with Mike and Peter but nothing just the two of them. After a few hours Lana looked at her watch.

"We better get going Lor," She said. Lori looked at her watch.

"Oh right okay" she said. Lori didn't want to leave yet she wanted more time to work up the courage to talk to Micky. The girls stood up and so did the boys so they could say goodbye. Mike came over to Lori.

"It was nice to meet you, Lori, so I'll pick you up at your pad at eleven tomorrow?" He told her.

"Tomorrow!?" Micky and Lana both shouted which made the other four jump.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Micky asked still sounding a little loud. Lana was about to ask the same question but Micky beat her to it.

"Mike and I are going out, he's gonna show me some of his favourite places in Malibu beach" Lori explained.

"Well shouldn't Micky do that? I mean he has lived here the longest," Lana said and Micky was nodding in agreement.

"Well yeah he could but he doesn't know all my favourite places does he so it would be a bit pointless" Mike told them. All Lana and Micky could do was gawk at them, they had to agree but they didn't like it one bit. Lori felt a little bad, she would of loved to spend the day with Micky but she and Mike had so much in common that she was really looking forward to spending more time with him. They all said there good-byes and the girls headed home. Lori and Lana didn't say anything to each other at first until Lori broke the silence.

"Those guys are really nice especially Mike, I never expected to get on so well with any one quite so quickly, well except for you of course, but I feel like Mike and I have been friends for years" She told Lana. Lana felt the anger rise in her body until she couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Just stay away from him," She said.

"Excuse me?" Lori asked a little surprised by Lana's sudden outburst.

"You heard me, stay away from Mike I don't want you hanging out with him" Lana said. Lori couldn't believe her ears.

"Please tell me you didn't really say that!"

"I did say it and I meant it as well. I don't want you to have anything to do with him."

"I can't believe you! Mike and I are friends, that's all, I'm not gonna start to date him if that's what you're worried about and if it makes you feel any better I like some one else" Lori told her. Lana sighed.

"I'm sorry Lor I just can't handle the fact that Mike is going out with other women. I'm not over him yet and it hurts a little."

"It's okay I understand but I can assure you the only feelings I have for Mike are purely platonic, we get on well because we have a lot in common, if it makes you feel any better you can come with us tomorrow if you like?"

"No, no, it's okay, I'm just being selfish. I mean he's gonna start dating again eventually right and I know you guys aren't dating but I have to get used to seeing him with other women" Lana said. Lori put her arms around her and embraced her in a comforting hug.

"You still love him huh?"

"Yeah. I do" they stood for a few minutes while Lana fought back some tears then when they dispersed she said "so this guy you like, it's Micky right?" Lori was a little surprised but she didn't want to lie to her best friend, although they had only known each other a few weeks Lori felt she could tell Lana almost anything and Lana felt the same about her.

"How did you guess?" Lori asked.

"It was pretty obvious, the way you were gawking at him back at the pad, I'm surprised he didn't pick up on it."

"I did not gawk!" Lori said in mock protest trying not to laugh.

"Oh you so did, it was a little embarrassing actually" Lana told her and a wide grin spread across her face.

"I'm hurt now I may even cry" Lori said smiling.

"Sorry" Lana replied "but the most important thing is what can we do about it?" Lori's grin faded from her face.

"I have no idea. I couldn't even work up the courage to talk to him properly today" She explained.

"Maybe I could talk to him, find out if he feels the same way?" Lana offered.

"Oh no that's the last thing I want. I need to do this myself," Lori told her and Lana didn't argue.

"Okay, if that's what you want," She said.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the Monkees pad, Peter and Micky were still sitting round the table. Micky was reading the comics in the newspaper. Peter had been watching him for a few moments until he finally said.

"So you like her then?" And he smiled. Micky looked up and around him, saw he was the only one there and he turned back to the bassist.

"You talking to me?" He asked.

"Yes, you like her don't you?"

"Who Pete?" Micky asked trying his best to look innocent although he knew exactly who his blonde friend meant.

"Oh come on, don't pretend, you know who I mean" Peter said, narrowing his eyes slightly. Mike had wandered over and rejoined his friends.

"What's going on guys?" He asked and sat down.

"I'm just trying to get Micky to confess," Peter explained and turned his attention back to Micky "so come on then," He said. Micky gave up.

"Okay, you're right, I do like her, there I said it can you leave me with my comics now?" He asked returning his attention to the paper.

"Wait a minute who are we talking about?" Mike asked.

"You gonna tell him Mick?" Peter asked. Micky sighed heavily and slapped down his paper.

"It's Lori, okay, I like Lori" He said sounding rather irritated. Mike smiled.

"Oh really that's why you were so desperate to take her out tomorrow instead of me."

"I was not! And anyway Lana didn't seem too happy about you spending time with Lori" Micky said.

"Sorry shotgun but there's nothing for Lana to worry about. There's nothing going on between Lori and I. We're just friends." Mike replied. Peter was trying hard not to laugh as he watched the drummer squirm in his seat.

"Maybe I can get my sister to talk to her, find out if Lori feels the same way," Peter suggested.

"No way! Absolutely not! I can handle this myself, and anyway I know for a fact she doesn't like me."

"What makes you say that?" Mike asked.

"Well you were here today you saw her, she hardly said two words to me the whole time she and Lana were here."

"That just means she likes you too much and is too shy to say anything" Came a voice from behind them. Davy had come out of his bedroom and had caught the end of their conversation.

"You see, so listen to Davy he knows what he's talking about" Peter told Micky. Micky was starting to get annoyed.

"Look guys just leave it. I know you're only trying to help but I'd rather do this by myself" The drummer told them. He got up and climbed the spiral staircase to the bedroom he shared with Mike and closed the door.

"Wow he must like her a lot more then he's letting on" Peter told Davy and Mike. Davy sat in the chair Micky had left vacant.

"Yeah he's really hung up on her," He said.

"So what shall we do about it?" Peter asked.

"I have no idea" Davy replied. The three Monkees sat and thought about it until finally Mike said.

"Pete, maybe you should talk to Lana, tomorrow while Lori and I are out, you could go over to their pad."

"Yeah but you heard Micky, he doesn't want me to."

"Peter pay attention if we don't do anything then Micky may never find out how Lori feels about him," Mike told him.

"Yeah" Davy agreed, "If Lori does like him she would have told Lana."

"Exactly. Look I'm picking up Lori at eleven so you could go and see Lana at around eleven thirty and find out if she knows anything" Mike told Peter.

"Oh, okay sure" Peter replied.

"If we find out Lori does like him then we can figure out what to do next" Mike added.

The next morning Peter was up first as usual but it was not long before Mike joined him.

"G'morning Michael."

"Morning buddy, you all set up for today?" Mike asked.

"Yeah Lana is expecting me. I called her yesterday" Peter replied. Just then there was a loud slam from upstairs and Micky came down the stairs in his usual zombie like way, sat at the table grumbling something that sounded like good morning then flopped his head down on the table with a loud thud.

"Morning Mick" Peter said.

"I hate mornings," Micky moaned. Mike poured Micky some cereal and added his customary orange juice (Micky hated milk so he had orange juice on his cereal instead).

"Got anything planned for today Mick?" Mike asked and he pushed the cereal over to Micky. Micky cocked his head up.

"No not really" he said. He picked up a spoon and began on his cereal "might polish my drums later" He added. Mike and Peter were grinning at him. "what?" he asked looking from Mike to Peter then back to Mike again.

"Nothing" They both said. Micky opened his mouth to respond just as Davy emerged from the bedroom.

"Morning fellas. I'm going down the beach for a swim, any one wanna come?" He asked.

"You should have something to eat first," Peter told him. Micky finished his breakfast.

"I think I'll go back to bed for a while" He said. Davy watched as Micky disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door then the Englishman turned to his friends.

"So are we all set up for today?" He asked.

"Yep we're ready to go, Pete's gonna see Lana at half past eleven then what happens after that we'll just have to wait and see" Mike told him.

Later that day Mike left and arrived at Lana and Lori's pad at eleven. He knocked and let himself in and came into the living room.

"Hi babe" Lana said.

"Hi Lan, Is Lori ready?" Mike asked.

"Yeah she'll be out in a minute," Lana told him.

Lori and Lana's apartment was smaller then the Monkees pad. As you entered through the front door there was a small hall and a door that led into the living room. There was a staircase to the left of the front door that led to the second floor, which was just big enough for Lana's bedroom and a bathroom. In the living room there was a door on the left that led to Lori's bedroom and a door on the right that led to the kitchen. Mike joined Lana on the sofa.

"So do you have any idea why my brother is so desperate to talk to me?" Lana asked him.

"Yep."

"Are you gonna tell me?"

"Nope" He said and a grin spread across his face.

"What are you guys up to?" She asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"What makes you think we're up to something?" Mike asked innocently .

"Uh, because I know you" Lana said and Mike laughed.

"It's nothing to worry about, Peter just wants to find out some stuff that's all" He told her just as Lori emerged from her bedroom.

"Hi Mike, sorry to keep you waiting" She said.

"That's okay, you ready to go?" He asked.

"Yep let's go," They both said goodbye to Lana then left. Lana was still a little jealous about Mike spending all day with another woman but she knew Lori would never do anything to hurt her deliberately. At eleven thirty Peter knocked on Lana's door and let himself in.

"Lan? Hello?" He called as he came into the living room. Lana appeared from the kitchen.

"Hey big bro, so are you gonna tell me what you and the guys are up to?" She asked.

"Yeah of course come and sit down" Peter told her.

"Okay" She answered. They both sat down on the sofa.

"It's about Micky, he likes Lori and we..." Peter couldn't finish Lana squealed and jumped up from her seat and danced around in excitement.

"You're kidding!" She said. Peter was watching her in amazement.

"No, we wanted to know if Lori had said any thing to you about Micky?" He asked. Lana came over to her brother and hugged him.

"She likes him too, she told me yesterday" Lana screamed. Peter got up and was jumping up and down. Lana joined him they held each others hands and jumped around the living room.

"This is so great" Peter said.

"I know!" Lana replied, they jumped around a little longer then they both collapsed on the sofa.

"Do you know how much Lori likes him? Because Micky really digs her," Peter asked.

"She's into him in a big way" Lana told him.

"That's so great. You'll have to come over to the pad later so we can figure out what to do about it."

"Yeah that'll be great but we can't tell Lori because she doesn't want any help."

"No neither does Micky but when did that ever stop us!"

"That's true" Lana couldn't help but smile and Peter too. Peter really cared for his friend and although he didn't know Lori very well he had a good feeling about her and his sister liked her so that was good enough for him.

"So how are you any way?" Peter asked.

"I'm fine" Lana replied a little confused, "why d'you ask?"

"Because you're my baby sister and it's my job to look after you," He said. Lana looked offended.

"I can look after myself" She said Peter smiled.

"I know you can I just worry about you that's all."

"Why? I'm okay."

"Because of Michael" Peter confessed.

"Mike! Why? Mike and I are friends we're okay."

"That's what I'm worried about. I want you guys to get back together and I know you do too," He told her. Lana smiled a little and took hold of one of Peter's hands.

"We've been through this, Peter, sometimes it's just easier to be apart. Mike and I had it pretty rough the last couple of months we were together and I feel it's better to have him as a friend then not have him at all. I don't think I could live my life without Mike in it in some way" Lana explained.

"When did my baby sister get so wise?" Peter asked. Lana blushed then changed the subject.

"So, you staying for lunch?" She asked.

"Yeah I'd love to thanks."

Mike and Lori were having such a great time together. They had been walking round Malibu beach and decided to stop for lunch.

"So I guess you're not from Malibu beach originally?" Mike asked Lori when they had sat down in a café with their food.

"No I was born in New York, but we moved after my mother died."

"Your mom died?"

"Yeah when I was two. I don't really remember it, I don't really remember her. She died of cancer and two years later when I was four me and my dad moved to Illinois stayed there `til I was six then we moved to Wisconsin stayed there `til I was ten then we moved to Connecticut, stayed there `til I was fourteen then we moved to England."

"So we've got a lot more in common then we first realized. Not only are we both an only child, but we both grew up with only one parent" Mike told her.

"Which one did you have?"

"I had my mom, my dad left us when I was pretty young so I don't really remember much about him either" Mike confessed.

"We've both had pretty rough childhoods then" Lori observed.

"Yeah we did, but at least I got to stay in one place, all that moving around you did must've been pretty tough."

"It was but I got used to it. I think that's one of the reasons why Lana and I get on so well, we were both moved around a lot when we were kids."

"So what was England like?" Mike asked taking a bite from his sandwich.

"Oh I loved it there, London is a real swinging place but as I approached nineteen I started to really miss America. I don't know how Davy has managed to stay away from home so long" Lori told him "so what about you? When did you leave Texas?"

"When I was seventeen."

"Have you been back?"

"Nope."

"You haven't! Don't you miss your mom?"

"Of course, but I talk to her all the time on the phone. Don't get me wrong, Houston will always be my home, but I'm far happier here with the guys and our music" Mike explained. "They guys are brothers to me."

"I'm really gonna have to hear you guys play, Lana hasn't stopped talking about how great you are since I met her, when's your next job?"

"Well that's the problem with being a struggling musician, we seem to struggle a lot and we haven't had a job for a few weeks" Mike explained.

"Oh I'm sorry."

"It's okay, we're used to it. We go through dry patches but with the holidays coming up things will pick up a little" he told her "you could come to the pad tonight and hear us rehearse if you like?" Mike suggested. Lori jumped at the chance not just because she wanted to hear the guys play but also it would give her chance to see Micky again.

"Yeah, I'd love too, thank you" She said.


	3. Chapter 3

Mike and Lori stayed out until it started to get dark then Mike dropped her off at her pad so she could change. She told him she'd walk to the Monkees pad later.

When Mike returned home Davy, Peter, and Micky were watching television. Davy and Micky were arguing over it as usual.

"Come on Davy turn it over this is boring" Micky was saying.

"No I'm watching it, I don't hear Peter complaining" Davy told him.

"That's because Peter's dead! He died of boredom watching this television programme, didn't you Pete?" Micky asked nudging Peter in the side with his elbow.

"Leave me out of this one" Peter said he stood up and turned around. "Michael! You're back I didn't hear you come in."

"I don't think you could hear a bomb drop over those two arguing" Mike replied. Then two cushions, which Micky and Davy had thrown, hit him square in the stomach.

"We were not arguing!" Davy protested.

"Yeah we were just having a loud disagreement over the television which Davy is about to turn over" Micky added.

"I AM NOT!" Davy shouted at Micky.

"And so it begins again" Peter sighed.

"Why don't you let Mr Schneider pick for a change?" Mike asked as he sat at the kitchen table. He slyly indicated Peter to join him, which he did.

"Did you see Lana?" Mike asked.

"Yeah I did and according to her Lori is into Micky in a major way, she really digs him." Peter whispered.

"Oh that's great, now all we have to do is figure out what to do next."

"Well Lana is coming over later to help us with a plan" Peter said and Mike's mouth dropped open.

"You're kidding! I invited Lori over to hear us rehearse," he explained.

"You didn't!"

"I did!"

"What are we going to do?!" Peter asked, starting to panic.

"There's nothing we can do. I expect Lana knows Lori is coming over as well, we'll just have to delay making a plan until it's a better time" Mike explained.

Mike was right, Lori had told Lana she was going over to the Monkees pad and Lana had panicked almost as much as Peter. "You are?!" Lana asked.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Tonight?!" Lana added, Lori was starting to get annoyed now.

"Yes Lan tonight! Mike asked me if I would like to go and hear the Monkees rehearse tonight I said yes, hence me going over tonight," She said.

"Oh right, okay." Lana made a mental note to quiz her brother about this when she saw him "Well I'm going over to see Peter later so we can walk over together if you like?" she suggested.

"Yeah that'll be great" Lori replied.

"And of course Micky is going to be there as well" Lana added with a grin. A smile covered Lori's face.

"I know," She said trying to act calm as she disappeared into her bedroom.

At seven the girls left their pad. Lori couldn't help but feel a little nervous about seeing Micky again. At the Monkees pad no one had informed Micky of their visitors that evening so he was a little surprised when Lana came in the front door closely followed by Lori.

"Hi Mick" Lana said "Is Peter around?" She asked.

"Hi Lana yeah he's in his bedroom" Micky told her.

"Thanks" she turned to Lori "I'll be back in a minute. Here's your chance, go and sit with Micky" Lana instructed and went into the bedroom that Peter shared with Davy. Lori smiled nervously and it took all the courage she could muster to say the next sentence, she took a deep breath and took a step forward.

"Hello Micky, how are you?" Micky was almost as nervous as Lori but he wasn't showing it.

"I'm okay, thanks Lori. I haven't tripped over any guitars today so it's been a pretty good day" He said. Lori laughed.

"Glad to hear it" she said and smiled. Micky loved her smile.

"Please, sit down" He said indicating the empty space on the sofa next to him.

Lana had walked into Peter and Davy's bedroom just as Davy was half way through getting changed.

"Peter we need to talk" Lana said. Davy was shocked to see her and he dived over to his bed and pulled the covers over him.

"What's up?" Peter asked. Lana sat on Peter's bed next to him.

"How are we supposed to make a plan to get Micky and Lori together if they're both here?" She asked.

"I know I'm sorry, Michael and I got our wires crossed but we're just gonna have to delay making a plan `til later" Peter told her.

"Oh right, that was Mike's suggestion right?" She asked.

"Yeah how'd you know?"

"Well I love you big bro but you haven't got a lot of common sense really, have you?"

"Hey!" Peter said playfully slapping his sister then she hit him back. This would of turned into a full blown play fight if it hadn't of been for Davy.

"Er. hello? Half naked here!" He said. He made Lana jump.

"Davy! How long have you been there? I never noticed you at all," She said. Davy looked offended.

"Oh thank you very much! That's charming that is," he said. Peter was laughing now.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave you to it" Lana said and she stood up.

"Yeah me too" Peter told her, still smirking at Davy, which earned him a glare from the Englishman. So the two of them left Davy to finish getting changed.

As Peter and Lana entered the living room there was an awkward feeling in the air. Micky and Lori were sitting on the sofa in silence watching television. Lori had spent the whole time trying desperately to think of something to say, but as soon as she had sat down her mind went blank. She felt so relived when Peter and Lana appeared because hopefully now they would be able to get a conversation started.

"Hi Lori, nice to see you again" Peter said and he took up the remaining vacant spot on the sofa.

"Hi Peter how are you?" Lori asked.

"I'm fine thank you, so I hear you've come to hear us rehearse."

"Yeah I have if that's okay?"

"Of course it is, right Mick" Peter said. Micky hadn't been paying attention.

"Huh sorry, what did you say?" He asked.

"Never mind" Peter told him. Micky looked a bit confused.

"So when does this rehearsal begin?" Lana asked, she had perched on the edge of the bandstand opposite Lori.

"When Michael gets back, one of his guitar strings broke so he went to see if he could borrow one from the Jolly green giants" Peter said and then reading Lori's confused expression he added "That's another group they live at the other end of the beach" Lori nodded in understanding then Davy came out of the bedroom and joined his friends. He sat on the bandstand next to Lana.

"Hi Davy" Lori said.

"Hello luv. I hope you enjoy tonight. It's a shame we haven't got a gig so you could come and see us play properly" Davy said.

"Well I'm sure I'll get the chance real soon" Lori said. Lana was watching Micky he looked awkward and uncomfortable.

"Are you okay, Mick? You're being rather quiet that's not like you at all," She asked.

"I'm okay, Lan. I've just got a few things on my mind at the moment" He told her, he glanced sideways at Lori who was now in deep conversation with Peter.

"Oh okay" Lana said she could tell Micky really wanted to talk to Lori so she tried changing the subject "So which song are you guys starting with tonight?" She aimed the question at Peter so it would stop him talking to Lori but he didn't take the bait.

"Sometime in the morning" Davy told her. Lana made a mental note to slap her brother later.

"Oh really, you'll like that one Lor it's a ballad and Micky sings lead it's a real nice song" Lana said.

"Oh groovy, so I know Micky plays drums and Mike plays lead guitar and Peter is the bassist but what about you Davy? What's your instrument?" Lori asked. Lana wanted to slap Lori she was so annoyed with her, she had opened up the perfect opportunity for Lori to talk to Micky but she had completely sidestepped it.

"I play percussion mostly," Davy said in answer to Lori's question. "Sometimes I take over on drums for Micky and Peter is teaching me the bass at the moment"

"Groovy, so do you play anything other then bass, Peter?" Lori asked.

"Yeah I also play piano, harpsichord and banjo. I can play lead guitar as well but that's really Michael's niche" Peter told her. Lori was really impressed.

"Wow that's amazing," She said.

"Yeah he's a regular one man band" Micky told her and Lori was about to say something in response only to be interrupted by the front door opening and Mike walking in.

"Hi guys," He said.

"Hi Michael, did you get the string?" Peter asked.

"Sure did shotgun, those guys are great they haven't let me down yet" he said, "Hi Lori, hi Lana glad you guys could make it. I'll just sort out my 12 string then we can get started," He said. Lana tried this opportunity to get another conversation fired up but just as she opened her mouth Micky rose from his seat and went and perched in his customary place behind the drums. Peter went and picked up his bass and practised some scales to make sure it was in tune, which it was so he sat on an amp and rested his guitar on his knee. Davy stood up and gave his tambourine a couple of shakes and bangs.

"Oooh, it's a little sharp" he quipped he fiddled with a couple of the small cymbals gave it another bang and shake "Ah that's much better" He said and smiled. Lori and Lana giggled a little. Lana had joined Lori on the sofa. Mike had fixed the string to his guitar and plucked it a couple of times and tuned it in. Finally they were ready.

"Okay Mick, count us in" Mike told him which he did and the opening cords began.

Throughout the song Lori watched Micky tapping gently on his drums with his eyes closed so he could concentrate on the songs vocals as well. Lori was mesmerized by Micky's voice. She had never heard anything so beautiful in her life and Lana picked up on it. When the song finished the two girls clapped.

"Okay guys, let's pick it up a little why don't we do Sunny girlfriend" Mike suggested the other three nodded in agreement and just as Micky was about to count it off Lana stood up.

"Guys, before you do can I make a request?" She asked. The four boys looked at each other and Mike spoke for all when he said.

"Yeah sure, Lana, what song can we play for you?" Lana searched her memory for another Micky ballad and she thought of the perfect one.

"I'll spend my life with you."

"Sure we can do that for you, okay guys lets go" Mike said. So Micky counted them off and the song began. As he sang the vocals Micky couldn't help but think of Lori, he hardly knew her but he felt like he was going to spend his life with her, which was a little scary but also very comforting at the same time. If only he could find the courage to tell her how he felt! As the song finished Micky made a mental note to ask Mike for some advice when the girls had gone home. The rehearsal lasted for an hour and a half. Lori was really impressed, she really enjoyed the Monkees music.

"You guys are really good," She told them after they had decided to quit rehearsal for that evening.

"Thank you" the four boys said in unison. Peter carefully placed down his bass making sure it was way out of the way of Micky and got himself a soda from the fridge.

"Any one want one?" He asked, but nobody did.

"We should get a move on, Lana, I've got an early morning tomorrow" Lori told her roommate.

"We don't have to go right now, do we? Lets stay a while" Lana suggested.

"Yeah come on Lori you're welcome to stay a bit longer," Davy told her.

"Thanks Davy but I really should get going. I need to be up early in the morning, so I'd like to get some rest."

"Oh yeah, you're starting your new job tomorrow aren't you" Lana said.

"You are?" Peter asked, "What is it? If you don't mind me asking."

"No I don't mind at all, when I transferred from my architecture course in England to here I got offered a paid work experience at a local firm" Lori explained. Micky stared at her.

"You study architecture?" He asked.

"Yeah, I find it fascinating" she told him. Micky couldn't believe what he was hearing and neither could the other three Monkees they were just as surprised as Micky "Is that a bad thing?" Lori asked a little worried.

"No, of course not, sorry" Micky said. The other three Monkees knew that Micky had always been fascinated by architecture and Micky couldn't believe Lori was studying it. She's even more perfect then I first thought, he thought to himself. Lana and Lori said their good-byes and left. Davy had offered to drive them but as it was a warm night they had decided to walk. Micky never got a chance to talk to Mike that night, he had so many thoughts swirling through his mind that he decided to take a walk down the beach to try and sort through them, and then when he arrived home, the Texan was already in bed and fast asleep. The idea of asking Mike for advise completely slipped his mind until the next evening when the four Monkees were seated around the kitchen table having dinner, Peter's speciality - Cream of root beer soup. Micky hadn't touched his food, he just swivelled his spoon around trying to make tiny soup whirl pools, staring at the liquid in deep thought.

"Mick, you gonna eat something, babe? You haven't touched your food" Mike observed.

"I know Mike, I'm just not really that hungry" He answered. That statement was enough to cause the other three Monkees alarm, Micky was usually always hungry and ate everything in sight and now Mike was really worried about his curly haired friend.

"Can you guys give Micky and I a few moments alone please?" He asked Peter and Davy.

"Yeah of course" Peter answered for the both of them. They rose from the table and went into the bedroom they shared, taking their bowls with them. Mike waited for the ground floor bedroom door to close then turned his attention back to Micky.

"Okay shotgun, spill it, what's going on? You haven't been yourself at all these past couple of days," he said.

"I know. I've been in a kinda weird place lately. I've got all these feelings for Lori and I don't know what to do about them" Micky confessed.

"What kind of feelings?" Mike asked. Micky thought for a moment.

"I'm not really sure" he replied, feeling more stupid then he'd ever felt in his life.

"Are you in love with her?"

"I've only known her three days!" Micky told him but that didn't put Mike off.

"Are you in love with her?" He repeated. Micky sighed.

"Yeah I think I am," He said. Yells of excitement came from the ground floor bedroom and Peter and Davy burst out into the room with a big grin on their faces.

"That's so great Mick" Peter told him.

"So, what are we going to about it?" Davy asked.

"I don't know I just feel confused, Micky admitted. Peter was about to tell Micky that Lori felt the same and Mike could tell he was about to do it.

"Not yet" He mouthed and Peter obeyed his wishes.

"I've been thinking about nothing else but how I feel about Lori. I just wish I knew if she felt the same way about me, but I don't have the courage to ask her." Micky told his brothers.

"You must really like her you've never been his cut up over a girl before" Davy said. Micky had so many questions rushing through his head and he felt so drained he needed to be somewhere quiet and dark.

"I think I'll go to bed," He told the others.

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it some more?" Mike asked.

"Not at the moment, Mike, thanks maybe in the morning" He replied and with that said he rose from the table and climbed the spiral staircase to his bedroom. Peter watched as the drummer disappeared through the door.

"I've never seen any one so unhappy about being love," He told his two band mates.

"It's probably because he doesn't know how Lori feels about him," Davy suggested.

"Why did you stop me telling him, Michael?" Peter asked.

"Because it's not time to tell him yet. He needs to figure out what he's gonna do about his feelings first" Mike told the bassist.

"So what can we do for him until he figures it out?" Davy asked.

"Be here for him when he needs us, that's all we can do and we should hold off making any plans with Lana for the time being" Mike told them.

"Yeah you're right, we didn't know how serious Micky was about Lori but now we do we don't want to mess things up for them," Peter said.

"Exactly" Mike said he couldn't help but feel a little surprised by Peter's sudden common sense "Let's just sit back for a while and see how things progress" he added.


	4. Chapter 4

Things didn't progress very well at all for Micky and Lori. Lori stopped by the pad only once and at the time Micky was out running some errands. Peter had told Lana to cool off trying to convince Lori for a while, which Lana found really difficult. Lori and Micky were two of her best friends and she wanted them to be happy. Lori spent most of her time moping and by what Peter had told Lana, so did Micky.

"How is this helping them? They're miserable" Lana told her brother one night when he had called to say hi.

"I know but they have to figure it out for themselves" He told her.

"But they're so unhappy I hate seeing them like this."

"I know and so do I but we have to patient it'll all work out I promise."

"It's so frustrating! Why won't they tell each other how they feel? I don't understand, Micky has had girlfriends before."

"He's never been in love before, especially after knowing Lori three days it threw him a little" Peter explained.

"But he's known her two weeks, can't he can say something to her now!" Lana asked the frustration clear in her voice.

"Come on Lan it's not that easy, think about it, can you remember what you where like when you fell for Michael?" Peter asked her. Lana sighed, finally admitting defeat.

"I was exactly the same as Micky is now" she said sounding slightly irritated that her brother had played the Mike card "Okay, I'll back off but I'm not happy about it" She told him.

Two weeks after he had sat at the table and admitted his love for Lori to his Texan friend, Micky approached him again.

"Mike, can I have a word?" He asked a little cautiously.

"Yeah of course Mick, step into my office" Mike told him. Mike had been running through some cords on his guitar hoping to turn them into a new song, but he discarded his 12 string and led Micky to the kitchen table, where Davy was playing cards with Mr. Schneider.

"Davy, do you mind if we disturb you?" Mike asked Davy looked up at him

"No not at all, Mr. Schneider is cheating anyway," the Englishman told them then he looked back at the dummy "YOU WERE TOO!" He yelled and stormed off into his bedroom slamming the door behind him. Micky sighed

"Will those two ever get on?" He asked as he sat at the table and Mike did the same.

"So what can I do for you?" Mike asked.

"I've been doing some thinking" Micky told him.

The two men sat across the table from each other. Micky knew exactly what he wanted to say but he was searching for the right words. Mike was waiting patiently. He knew this was hard for the drummer, Micky had never been very good at expressing his feelings, especially feelings about a girl. Peter was always the one who could come right out and say what he was feeling, he wasn't afraid of admitting it and Mike admired him for that. Finally Micky spoke. "So I guess I should tell Lori how I feel about her," He said. Mike couldn't help it, he laughed.

"Yeah, shotgun, I guess you should" He replied. Micky felt a little embarrassed and also began laughing.

"I feel a little silly," He admitted.

"Why?"

"Because I've been acting so stupid, I've been scared in case Lori didn't feel the same but if I don't ask then I'll never know."

"That's true, so what has this got to do with me?" Mike asked.

"Well I've never told someone that I love them before and I'd like some advice on how to do it" Micky explained. Mike took a deep breath and went back in his memory to the day he had confessed his love to Lana. The memory caused him pain. Things had been so simple back then, he had known he would spend the rest of his life with Lana but they had not worked out, and now he was alone. He snapped out of his regret quickly because if he dwell on it too long he knew he would cry. Micky watched his Texan friend for a few seconds and saw the pain etched on his face.

"Oh, Mike, I'm sorry. I forgot how much you still hurt. Please forgive me. I won't say another word" Micky rose from the table.

"No, Mick, it's okay, please sit down let me help you, you know what Mr. Schneider says" Mike tugged on the string in the chest of the dummy Davy had left behind.

"It's better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all," Mr. Schneider said.

"So please sit down I'm okay," Mike told him. Micky was a little reluctant at first but he returned to his seat, he felt so sorry for the Texan. Micky had been so upset when Lana and Mike broke up, they had made such a great couple.

"Why don't you guys get back together? I know you still love each other," Micky told him.

"It's not that easy, Mick, sometimes it's better to be apart but lets not talk about that, bleaugh! You wanted some advice so I want to help" Mike could feel the tears in his eyes fighting to get out, but because of his stubbornness he refused to let them. He managed to choke them back "Just be honest and explain how you feel that's all you can do really" He told the drummer.

"And what if she doesn't feel the same?" Micky asked.

"Well, it will hurt there's no denying it, but if you bottle up your feelings and never tell her how you feel, you'll never find out will you, you've got a chance to be real happy here Mick, take it" Mike told him. Micky was silent at first taking in what his Texan friend had told him.

"I'm a little nervous," He confessed.

"I'd be worried if you weren't" Mike told him "It's a pretty big thing you're about to do, life changing even." Mole said.

"Whoa. life changing! What do you mean?" He asked. Mike was a little surprised.

"Well if things go the way you would like you'll be spending a lot of time with Lori."

"I guess, I never really thought about it like that, I'm even more nervous now."

"Do you want to be with her?"

"Oh yeah I really do. I want to be with her right now" Micky said and Mike smiled. Then Peter came in the back door from the beach and Lana and Lori trailed behind. They were talking and the girls were laughing at something Peter had said. Mike smiled a little wider.

"Your wish is my command," He told the drummer.

"Hi guys" Peter said.

"How did you do that?" Micky whispered to Mike and Mike chuckled a little.

"Hi Peter, hi girls, what have you three been up too?" Mike asked them.

"We've been out on the beach and we bumped into Peter, he invited us back for a drink it's pretty hot out there today" Lana explained.

"You've been on the beach Pete? I thought you were going to look for some gigs for us?" Micky added.

"Yeah I did at first but it's such a beautiful day I thought I'd take a walk on the beach then I bumped into the girls" Peter told them.

"You haven't got university or work today Lori?" Mike asked.

"No not today, Mike, I get weekends off" Lori said. The ground floor bedroom door opened and Davy poked his head out.

"Hello girls, I thought I heard your voices."

"Hi Davy" Lori and Lana said in unison. Peter went over to the fridge and got three sodas.

"Do you guys want one?" He asked his band mates.

"No thanks, Pete" They all said. Lori, Lana, and Peter sat on the sofa with their drinks. Micky was feeling so nervous, now Lori was there he had the perfect opportunity to tell her how he felt about her.

"Lori you still okay for dinner tomorrow night?" Mike asked her. Lana and Micky both shot him a face of thunder.

"You guys are going out to dinner?" Lana asked.

"Yeah if Lori's still okay for it" Mike asked again.

"Yeah I am I'm really looking forward to it" Lori answered.

"Groovy" Mike said. Micky stood up. This was it he was going to do it, he wasn't full of confidence in fact he was damn petrified and his voice squeaked a little when he spoke.

"Lori, can I talk to you for a minute please?" Suddenly Lori was filled with nerves as Micky spoke to her directly for the first time since they met.

"Of course you can Micky, what's up?" She asked and turned to face him.

"Do you mind if we go some where a little more private?"

"No not at all" She stood up and looked at Lana who merely shrugged. Lana was screaming for joy on the inside. It looked like Micky was finally going to reveal his feelings to Lori.

Micky climbed up the spiral staircase to his bedroom. He opened the door and entered, the room was a little messy and he cursed himself for being so untidy but thanked God that he had decided to make his bed that morning. There were two beds in the room Micky's bed was against the wall opposite the door and then Mike's against the wall to the right as you entered the room. Each had a nightstand next to it and there was one closet and a wardrobe on the wall to the left. There was a window on the right side of the room just to the right of Mike's bed. Micky scurried around kicking things under his bed as he waited for Lori to join him. When he heard Lori climbing the stairs he sat on the edge of his bed and tried to look as calm as possible. He had left the door open but Lori knocked any way.

"Come in please, take a seat," He told her. As Lori entered the room Micky rose from the bed and closed the door behind her. He noticed Peter and Lana were half way up the stairs and Micky shooed them away. There were no chairs in the room so Lori sat on one of the beds she presumed was Mike's. Micky returned to his seat and took a deep breath trying to find the right words to explain how he felt but as soon as he sat down his mind went blank. They sat in silence for at least five minutes and Lori was resisting the urge to get up and leave, she was far too nervous to be sitting in silence for much longer.

"Micky, I don't mean to be rude but you said you wanted to talk and you haven't said a word," She said finally.

"I know, I'm sorry this is really difficult for me, I've never done this before" He replied.

"Done what before?" Lori asked feeling a little confused.

"Told someone I'm in love with them" For a moment Micky forgot who he was talking to and the words spilled out of his mouth before his brain could stop them. His hand flew to his mouth as he instantly regretted it and wished he could take it back. He looked at Lori who was staring at him her mouth slightly open with shock "Oh god I am so sorry I didn't mean for it to come out like that" He said searching Lori's eyes for any kind of response. Thoughts were finally beginning to form in Lori's head. Alarm bells were ringing in her brain and the first thing she thought was to get out of there as quickly as possible. She stood up.

"I... er... I... I'm... gonna go" She said.

"No please Lori wait I..." But it was too late and Lori was gone.

Davy, Peter, Mike and Lana were all sitting around the kitchen table. They heard the bedroom door open and close and looked up to see Lori flee the bedroom and come running down the stairs.

"Lor, you okay?" Lana asked. Lori didn't answer.

"Lori?" Mike asked worry etched on his face, again Lori didn't answer. She threw open the front door and sprinted away slamming the door behind her.

"I'll go after her," Lana told them and left after Lori.

"I'll go check on Micky" Mike told the other two. He climbed the staircase and went into the bedroom he shared with the drummer. Peter and Davy looked at each other and shrugged, not having any idea about what had just gone on.

As Mike entered the room he saw Micky laying flat on his bed with his hands cupped over his face. Mike was certain he could hear faint sobs coming from the drummer.

"What happened, babe?" He asked softly. Micky wiped his face and sat up.

"I blew it Mike" he told him Mike sat on the bed next to his friend and placed a comforting arm around his shoulder "It came out all wrong and Lori ran out. I doubt she'll ever speak to me again."

"I guess she's a little shocked, that's all. She probably needs a little time to calm down I'm sure she'll be back. Just give her time" Mike said reassuringly.

Lana found Lori sitting on her favourite spot on the beach, not too far from the Monkees pad. Lori had her arms wrapped around her legs with her chin resting on her knees. She was staring at the ocean deep in thought and never even noticed her roommate sit down next to her.

"You left in rather a hurry, is everything okay?" Lori was jerked out of her thoughts.

"Lana? Where did you come from?"

"I've just sat down a couple of minutes ago, you wanna tell me what's going on?"

"No not really, I'm just confused about something that's all."

"About what? Come on you can tell me," Lana said. Lori sighed.

"It's about Micky, he told me. He told me he's in love with me," Lori explained.

"He did! Wow that's pretty groovy, do you feel the same way?"

"I don't know. I mean, I do like him I know I do, but I've only known him two weeks how can any one be in love after knowing someone for such a short time."

"Well I know Micky pretty well and I don't think he'd say something like that unless he really meant it, why don't you go back and talk to him" Lana suggested.

"I wish I could but it's not as simple as that."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't that's why."

"Okay, come on what aren't you telling me?" Lana demanded and Lori was suddenly staring at a rock in the sand like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. "Lor?" Lana prompted. Lori looked at Lana as if she was about to tell her something, she opened her mouth to speak but then changed her mind and closed it again, her features turned to annoyance.

"Look I'd rather not talk about this right now and if you don't mind I'd like to be alone" Lori told her. Lana didn't want to pressure Lori into telling her something she obviously wasn't ready for Lana to know so she left her alone. Lana walked up the steps that went up to the Monkees pad from the beach. She could see Lori sitting on the beach from the guy's veranda. When she went inside Davy and Peter were still sitting at the table but Mike was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi guys," she said and sat down on the chair she had left vacant a few moments before.

"Hello sis how's Lori?" Peter asked.

"Not good I'm afraid Pete I left her down on the beach."

"So what exactly happened up there?" Davy asked Lana, pointing up at the closed door of the upstairs bedroom

"I'm not exactly sure to be honest."

"And I don't think we should be gossiping about it" Came a voice from above them. Mike was walking down the stairs.

"We're not gossiping, Michael, we're just worried about our friends" Peter told him.

"How's Micky?" Lana asked.

"He's been better, did you manage to catch up with Lori?"

"Yeah I did she's a little out of it. I think it's affecting her more then she's letting on" Lana explained.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked sitting back at the table with them.

"I dunno, I got the feeling she's not telling me the whole story and she looked as though she wanted to tell me something, something important."

"What? You think she's hiding something?"

"Yeah maybe, I dunno, I mean I've only known her a couple of months so I don't really know that much about her."

"She doesn't seem like the type to lie though, maybe she's just in shock," Mike offered. Peter and Davy didn't contribute to this conversation, they just listened and took in what Lana and Mike were saying.

"I agree. I don't think she is lying. I just think she's not telling us the whole truth," Lana continued.

"You can tell all that from a three minute conversation?"

"Yeah from the way she was acting, I just got the feeling there's more to this then she's letting on, call it female intuition"

"Does she love Micky?" Mike asked.

"I honestly don't know" Lana told him. What Lana and Mike didn't realize was that Micky had heard their entire conversation. He was sitting on the balcony listening quietly and felt more confused then ever. If Lana's suspicions were correct and Lori was hiding something from them, what on earth could it be? He desperately wanted to get out of the pad, find somewhere out in the fresh air where he could think and clear his head but he knew he would never be able to slip past his friends without them noticing him and he really didn't want to face them yet, he didn't feel ready to answer their questions, so he went back into his bedroom and quietly closed the door. He tried to make it as dark as possible by turning out the light and closing the curtains, it wasn't half as dark as he would have liked but it would have to do.

Lori was sitting on the beach staring at the waves crashing on the sand. She didn't know what to do about Micky. How could he be so sure that he was in love with her so quickly, they had hardly said two words to each other. She was so confused.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next couple of weeks Lori avoided everyone, she canceled her dinner date with Mike and she never visited the Monkees pad, she hardly spoke to Lana and then finally when the Monkees did have a gig, she didn't go. She had decided to stay away from the Monkees for a while but the only problem was, she found herself really missing Mike. She called the pad one morning and luckily Mike answered.

"Hi Mike."

"Hello Stranger! How are you?" Lori could practically hear the smile on his face.

"I've been better, look do you fancy some company for lunch?"

"Yeah of course come on over" Mike told her. She was quiet for a minute.

"I was hoping you could come over here."

"I can't. I'm waiting for a call about a job, I'm here by myself. Peter and Davy have taken Micky out for the day to cheer him up."

"Why does he need cheering up?" Lori paused "No, you know what don't answer that, anyway I would come over but I didn't feel like going out today that's all."

"Oh please, Lori. I haven't seen you for ages, and you did stand me up for dinner that night. Plus I could really use the company."

"What about Mr. Schneider? Can't he keep you company?"

"We had a fight and he's not talking to me," He told her. Lori giggled a little.

"Okay. I'll come over," She said. The conversation hadn't gone how Lori would've liked and she was dreading going over to the Monkees pad but was really looking forward to seeing Mike, she had missed him so much. She was also praying Micky wouldn't come home while she was there. She wasn't ready to face him yet. She arrived at the pad and knocked cautiously on the front door and heard Mike shout.

"Come on in Lolo" Lori couldn't remember exactly when Mike had assigned that pet name to he,r but he always called her it when he was being affectionate or just pleased to see her, it had become Mike's nickname for her, he was the only one that called her it. When Lori entered Mike was on the phone he waved his greeting and indicated for her to sit down, which she did.

"Yeah, okay, Pete. Well have fun and I'll see you later tonight" Mike said and hung up the phone "Sorry about that, Lori" Mike told her and he came and sat with her on the sofa.

"That's okay. Is Peter alright?"

"Yeah he just called to check in that's all, we're all really anxious about this gig" Mike explained "So anyway where have you been hiding yourself these past couple of weeks?"

"Oh you know I've been busy at uni and with work. I've had a lot of stuff to do, but I had to come and see you because believe it or not I've actually really missed you," She told him. Mike smiled.

"Well I've missed you too, kid. So it's got nothing to do with the fact that Micky told you he's in love with you a couple of weeks ago?" He said matter-of-factly. Lori stared at him for a little while, unsure of what to say until finally Mike spoke again "You know, Lana has a theory about you" He told her.

"Oh, she does, does she? Come on then spill it."

"She thinks you're hiding something from us" He said. Again Lori was quiet "She can't understand why someone could get so freaked out over being told someone was in love with you unless something had happened in the past."

"Well that just goes to show how much you guys don't know me, the reason why I got so freaked out was because I had only known Micky two weeks when he told me that. It surprised me a little that someone could be so sure they were in love after knowing a person for such a short amount of time" Lori explained.

"You've never heard of love at first sight?" Mike countered.

"Yes but I don't believe in it" she replied firmly.

"So you're not hiding anything then?"

"No I am not."

Mike eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you telling me the truth?" He asked. Lori was beginning to get really frustrated.

"Oh for goodness sake! I didn't come here for the third degree. I'm outta here," She said. Mike let her go until she was almost out the door.

"You didn't answer my question" He called. Lori huffed loudly and left slamming the door behind her.

When Lana came to visit the guys the next morning Mike took her aside.

"You're right you know, about Lori I mean, she is defiantly hiding somethins from us," He told her.

"I knew it! So what is it?" Lana asked and Mike sighed.

"I dunno, she wouldn't tell me. But we've got to find out so we can help her out," He said.

"I agree but where do we start? I mean there's no way Lori is going to tell us."

"I know I don't really know what to do, if only there was a way we could get her to open up," Mike said. He and Lana sat and thought about it all day and neither of them could come up with an idea so that night Mike called a meeting, all four Monkees where present as well as Lana and Mr. Schneider. They were all sitting at the table apart from Mike who was standing, gabble in hand and was about to start when he noticed Mr. Schneider sitting at the table next to Peter.

"Hang on what's he doing here?" He asked.

"Mr. Schneider feels he is being left out so I said he could join the meeting" Peter explained.

"But he's not talking to me" Mike countered.

"I know but he's going to tell me his ideas and I can tell you" Peter answered. Mike sighed and threw his hands up in defeat.

"Fine, let's get started" he banged the gabble on the table once "Hear-ye hear-ye and everything else that goes with it, we are here to discuss the matter of Miss Loretta Tyler that is why Miss Tork has joined us for today's meeting."

"Welcome Miss Tork" Davy said.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones, it's an honour to be here" Lana replied.

"And so to the matter of Miss Tyler, Miss Tork and I have reason to believe she is hiding something important from us and we'd like to help her out, so I'll take suggestions from the floor on how to do so" Mike told them. Davy tooted loudly.

"Don't ask the floor man he never has any good ideas," He said.

"Wait a minute Mr. Schneider has an idea" Peter told them he listened to the dummy nodding occasionally and um-hummed every now and then said "That's a good idea" he turned back to the waiting spectators "Mr. Schneider thinks we should send in a specialist agent to talk to Miss Tyler" He explained. With that said every one, including Mr. Schneider, turned and looked at Micky, who wasn't paying much attention to anything except a spider that was climbing up Mr. Schneider's arm. He had no intention what so ever of being included in the conversation. He stared back at them.

"What?" He asked. Then he realized "Oh no! Not me absolutely not there's no way, every time I talk to her she runs outta the room," He said in his defence.

"Yeah, Mr. Dolenz is right, he'd be no good, no we need some one closer to Miss Tyler" Mike told them.

"What about you Mi... er Mr. Nesmith, you and Lori are pretty close" Peter suggested looking extremely proud with himself for thinking of it.

"I've already tried once, shotgun, and I couldn't get through to her. We need some one else, her roommate for instance, Miss Tork?" Mike asked turning his attention to Lana.

"I don't mind talking to her but I'll doubt she'll listen. She's hardly said two words to me in weeks" Lana told him.

"This is gonna be harder than we thought" Mike said and the others nodded in agreement "Well I guess there's nothing else we can do, we'll reconvene if any new information is presented to us but for now, meeting adjourned" he announced and banged his gabble on the table three times. Every one got up and left the table except Micky, and Mr. Schneider. Micky was resting his head in his hands thinking over the conversation that had just gone on, maybe he should go and try to talk to Lori at least to try and get an explanation as to why she ran out on him. It was worth a try and anyway he had to face her sooner of later. He got up and headed for the front door.

"Hey Mick where you off to, babe?" Davy asked.

"Just for a walk I won't be too long."

"You okay, Shotgun?" Mike asked.

"Yeah I'm okay. I just need a bit of fresh air" He told the Texan, then left. Davy watched the front door long after Micky had left.

"Do you think he's gone to see Lori after all?" He asked no-one in particular.

"I dunno, maybe" Lana answered.

Micky walked to Lori and Lana's pad. He stood outside the front trying to work up the courage to knock, which after staring at the front door for a few moments he decided he didn't have. He was about to turn and walk away when to his surprise the door opened to reveal Lori, who jumped in surprise, clearly she wasn't expecting any one to be standing there. Her hand flew to her chest.

"Jesus, Micky, you trying to give me a heart attack! You scared me half to death."

"Sorry I didn't mean to."

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked. Micky wasn't sure what to say.

"I... er... I was. I was out for a walk and I... I dunno, I just ended up here" He confessed.

"Oh right well I was on my way out" She told him, confusion and suspicion laced in her words.

"Okay. I won't keep you" Micky said and turned to walk away.

"Well I guess. I guess you could come with me. You know, only if you want to" As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted saying them. She had spent so long carefully avoiding Micky and now when he was standing in front of her she asked him to spend the entire evening with her "You know what forget it, it's just some dumb open evening for my university, you'd probably get bored" she said, hoping he would buy it.

"Why do you have to go? I mean you're already enrolled wouldn't they be wasting a sales pitch on you?" He asked a little confused. A small smile curled the edge of Lori's mouth.

"They're showing some of my blue prints and they want me around in case any one has any questions about them," Lori explained.

"Oh I see, that sounds really interesting I've always been fascinated with architecture."

"Yeah, so Lana tells me."

"So if the offers still open I'd like to come along, I'd love to see some of your work" Micky said cautiously. Lori tried to think of an excuse as to why it would be better if he didn't go but she couldn't think of one.

"Okay, yeah, you can come, let's get going though, I'm already running late," she told him. Lori couldn't help but feel a little awkward. She wasn't sure whether of not to apologize to Micky for running out on him, but then that would bring up the 'love' thing and she so wasn't ready for that conversation just yet, so she kept her mouth shut. The walk to university seemed to take forever, as neither of them knew what to say. Suddenly Lori had a thought.

"I went to see Mike yesterday he said you guys had a pretty important job on the cards did you get it?" She asked. Micky had been trying so hard himself to think of some thing to talk to her about that it had surprised him a little that she had spoken first.

"Yeah, we did! It's pretty exciting. We're all psyched."

"What was it for? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"It's for a couple of months at the club Cassandra, it's not a breakthrough gig, but it'll keep Babbitt happy for a few months `cos we'll be able to pay the rent on time for a change!"

"That's great! Mike seemed pretty anxious about it yesterday."

"He's always like that when we've got a job on the cards. It's all pretty much life or death with him when it comes to the music, he likes everything to be organised" Micky explained.

Mike was getting worried, a few hours had past and he had no idea where Micky was. Micky's walks never usually lasted this long and he never ever let anything interrupt valuable sleep time unless, that is, he was out with a girl. Lana was still at the pad playing checkers with Peter. Davy was watching television, and was silently relieved Micky wasn't home because he knew Micky would spend the whole time arguing with him over the programme he had chosen to watch. Mike was pacing up and down behind the sofa wringing his hands, his brow knitted with worry and every now and then he'd glance up at both the front and back door, as if expecting the drummer to bound in at that very moment. Finally his worrying got the better of him and he decided to call Lori to see if Micky had turned up there. He dialled the number and waited impatiently for Lori to answer, but instead he was connected to that infuriating answering service he used to speak to so often just before he and Lana broke up and she had refused to speak to him, he made his apologizes claiming it a wrong number and replaced the receiver. He leaned with one arm against the table for support and the other pinned to his hip, his legs crossed at the ankles. He turned to Lana.

"Hey Lan, did Lori mention anything to you about going out this evening?" He asked. Lana thought about it, looking up as if to find the answer on the ceiling.

"Ummm not that I recall, why?" she said looking back across at him.

"Well I just called your pad and got no answer," He said.

"I'm sure Micky's fine, Michael, you shouldn't be worried" Came Peter's reassuring voice.

"I know. I can't help it, it's in my nature, you know being the surrogate big brother and all" he said.

"So do you think they're out together?" Davy asked, finally dragging himself away from the television long enough to participate in the conversation. Lana's eyes had returned to the ceiling searching for that elusive answer again.

"Hang on! I think Lori said some thing about an open evening at her uni. That's probably were she is!" Lana told them so suddenly it made Peter jump.

"So I'll ask again do you think they're out together?" Davy repeated, slightly irritated by Lana's sudden out burst.

"I dunno but if they are, I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that one" Peter told them.


	6. Chapter 6

To Lori's surprise she found herself having a really good time. She and Micky had stayed at her university thing for a few hours, then they had quietly slipped out and found an all night café and had something to eat and a cup of coffee. The awkwardness Lori was feeling had died away and to her amazement she found it really easy to talk to Micky, she didn't feel as nervous as she had done previously. They had left the café and were now walking, silently, through the streets of Malibu beach and Lori was enjoying Micky's company and visa versa. All during the evening Micky would steal long glances at Lori to try and figure out what she was feeling but he hadn't been able to work her out, not yet. He loved spending this time with her and hoped she was having as much fun as he was, she seemed to be, they hadn't stopped laughing yet and his face actually ached from the amount of smiling he was doing.

"It's so beautiful out here, I could stay out all night" Lori said suddenly, jerking Micky from his thoughts. She was staring up at the sky, they were on the outskirts of town so the stars were clearly visible and not hidden by the glare of street lamps. Micky looked up too.

"Yeah I agree, I bet it's gorgeous down on the beach" Micky replied.

"Do you wanna take a walk down there?" Lori asked looking back at Micky "I mean I know it's getting late but I really don't feel like going home yet" Micky didn't answer at first he let her words wash over him for a second then met her eyes.

"No, me either, the beach sounds good" He told her. As they walked Lori decided that now would be a good time to get something off her chest.

"Micky, I want to apologize for that afternoon in your room I panicked and... " she began to say but Micky cut in.

"Don't worry about it, I understand it was probably a huge shock but it's totally fine."

"Thank you but I am sorry."

"Hey, like I said it's fine. You don't need to apologize," He told her. Then he opened his mouth again as if he wanted to say something else but immediately closed it and Lori was silently relieved he didn't try to pursue the conversation further, she still wasn't ready to answer the question she knew he must have been dying to ask. They were silent again for a few moments until Lori spoke again.

"I'm having a really great time tonight Micky, I'm glad it's not over yet" she told him and he smiled.

"Me too" He replied with a smile Lori knew she was growing to love seeing.

Lori wasn't sure if it was the romantic setting of walking down a quiet moonlit street on this warm night, but all her doubts and fears were beginning to wash away and she was beginning to feel like her old self again. She couldn't say she felt exactly the same way as Micky, because that wouldn't be the truth, but she knew she liked him, she liked him a lot and always had done since they first met. He had been so kind to her and really taken an interest in her work at the open evening, he even asked her a few questions about it so that other people wouldn't feel to shy about approaching her, she had really appreciated his efforts and of course the fact that he had insisted on paying for their food and coffee in the café and refused to let her pay half as she had suggested. She smiled as she thought over the events of the evening and without thinking she reached over and clasped her fingers in Micky's. Micky had been a little surprised at first when he felt Lori take hold of his hand but he soon relaxed and enjoyed the closeness. He did love her, he knew that but he just wished he knew how she felt about him, he had almost asked her once that night and he thought about asking her now but decided against it, he didn't want to ruin such a perfect evening. It had been perfect and anyway, as they walked hand in hand down the street, he knew somewhere deep down inside that he was going to spend the rest of his life with this woman and that thought made him happier then he had ever been in his life. Suddenly hand in hand wasn't good enough for him he wanted to be closer so he let go of her hand and slid his arm around her shoulders, it had startled Lori at first but she soon relaxed and returned the gesture and slid her arm around his waist and with her other hand tangled her fingers in that of his which was on the arm around her shoulder and that was how they stayed as they walked to the beach.

The next morning Mike woke up and turned over expecting to find Micky snoring away peacefully in his bed, but to his surprise the drummers bed was empty. "No way can he be up this early" Mike thought to himself. Micky's bed was unmade but as he rarely made it anyway this provided the Texan with no clue as to whether his curly haired friend had been to bed or not. Mike rose from his bed and wiped the remaining sleep from his eyes with his fists, checked the room for any sign of Micky and when he found none, he left the room putting on his dressing gown. He leaned over the railings on the balcony and as he suspected there was Peter busy preparing breakfast.

"At least some one is keeping to their usual morning routine" Mike said to himself as he started down the stairs.

"Morning Michael, sleep well?" The bassist asked in his usual cheery morning tone.

"G'morning buddy, yes I did thanks, you?" he added and let out a small yawn.

"Yeah I did" Peter answered. Mike took up his customary morning chair at the kitchen table and poured himself some cereal and thanked Peter when he handed him some coffee.

"Is Micky around?" Mike asked, suddenly remembering the drummer's vacant bed.

"Don't be silly Michael, it's not past 12 `0' clock yet, Micky won't be up for hours" Peter told him. Alarm bells began ringing in Mike's head. He stared at Peter.

"He's not in bed."

"He's not?"

"No" Mike replied. Now Peter was starting to worry as well.

"Are you sure? Maybe he fell out again?"

"No he was defiantly not in the bedroom."

"Well where can he be, he must've stayed out all night!"

"Yeah and usually he'd call if he knew he wasn't coming home," Mike said. The two boys started to panic.

"I'll go wake up Davy and we can go and look for him," Peter suggested. So Mike went upstairs and got dressed while Peter woke up Davy and informed him of the situation. Ten minutes later the three boys, and Mr. Schneider, were seated around the kitchen table after Mike had called an emergency meeting.

"Alright men and er, dummy, welcome to operation find Micky Dolenz. As we know Mr. Dolenz is missing in action and it's our job to find him. Here's the plan, Tork you visit Tyler and Tork see if he has turned up there," Mike instructed.

"Yes sir" Peter replied.

"Jones, you search the beach."

"Yes sir."

"Schneider, you stay here in case he comes back" The dummy nodded once and Mike was about to speak again when there was a loud thumping on the front door.

"That's it boys I AM KICKING YOU OUT!" Came the all too familiar roar of their landlord, Mr. Babbitt. The three boys groaned.

"Just what we need, Jones get rid of him" Mike ordered.

"Yes sir" Davy rose and went and opened the front door "What can we do for you Mr. Babbitt?" He asked. Mr. Babbitt was a tall pudgy man with black hair, thick black glasses and a stern face.

"Well you can pay me for a start!" He yelled. The Monkees didn't think Mr. Babbitt knew how to speak quietly he was always overly loud.

"We understand we still owe you some rent money and we will get round to sending you a cheque very soon thank you for your patience and understanding on the subject matter, goodbye" Davy closed the door on a stunned Mr. Babbitt and rejoined his friends.

"Good work Jones, now back to the mission. I'll search the local areas Mr. Dolenz is known to frequent and we'll meet back here in one hour for a progress report, do we all have an assignment?" Mike asked.

"Yes sir" Peter and Davy chorused and Mr. Schneider nodded.

"Okay, let's go, good luck men and God speed," Mike said.

Davy disappeared out the back door only to reappear again a few seconds later.

"Er, Mike I found him," He reported.

"You did? Well where is he?" Just as Davy was about to speak Micky came in the back door.

"Hi guys, what's going on?" He asked. Peter had been in his bedroom and came out just in time to hear Micky's question.

"We're going to look for you Mick, you didn't come home last night and we're worried about you" He said. Davy rolled his eyes and Peter was about to leave the pad when Mike said.

"Er, Pete he's back"

"He is?" Peter turned around "Oh hi Micky! When did you get back? We were just about to go look for you" Micky looked at Davy.

"Isn't that dumb!" He whispered to the Englishman.

"Where have you been man, we were just about to send out a search party" Davy asked Micky.

"I've been on the beach," Micky told them like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"All night?" Mike asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Alone?" Davy added.

"No I was with Lori," He told them matter-of-factly.

"Again I say, all night?" Mike repeated.

"Yeah" Micky said and he went and sat at the table and poured himself some cereal. He could feel the other three Monkees gawking at him so he looked up "What?" He asked feeling a little uncomfortable.

"You were out all night on the beach with Lori Tyler?" Mike asked, finding it a little hard to believe.

"Yeah, I thought about what you guys said at the meeting and decided to go and talk to Lori and she took me to her university thing, after that we went and got something to eat then ended up on the beach" Micky explained. Peter was grinning from ear to ear.

"That's so great Mick, are you guys together now?" He asked and he sat on a chair next to Micky.

"No I don't think so big Peter. We just had a really nice evening."

"You had a date that's what you had," Davy told him as he came over to join them at the table.

"It was not a date!" Micky protested.

"It was too, for example, who paid for dinner?" Davy asked.

"Well I did of course."

"There, I rest my case."

"Just because I paid doesn't make it a date. It wasn't even dinner really, just a snack and any way Lori wanted to go dutch but I wouldn't let her" Micky told them.

"I have to agree with Davy on this one Micky" Peter said. Mike was still in a state of shock but he snapped out of it and came over to the table. Mr. Schneider took up the remaining chair so Mike tossed him out of it and sat down.

"Hey careful man you'll hurt his feelings" Peter said he picked up Mr. Schneider and set him down on the sofa and then rejoined his friends "And you wonder why he's not talking to you" He added but Mike ignored him.

"So what exactly did you guys do all night anyway?" He asked Micky.

"Just talked mostly. Got to know each other."

"What did you talk about?" Peter asked.

"The band, the music, our family's, growing up, she told me what it was like for her growing up after her mother died."

"Her mother died? I didn't know that" Davy said.

"Yeah when she was two" Mike told him.

"You knew!" Davy said. Peter put his hand up and smiled sheepishly, "You knew as well!"

"Lana told me," Peter said defensively.

"Oh that's charming that is. I'm always the last to know anything around here."

"Davy!" Mike warned.

"Sorry, any way you definitely had a date" Davy said. Micky looked at him with a raised eyebrow but Davy added "Trust me, I've been on thousands of dates, I'm an expert. That was a date"

Micky was starting to get a little annoyed. "Why can't two people of the opposite sex spend time together just as friends huh? Mike and Lori spend a lot of time together and you've never insinuated that they are going on dates," Micky told them in his defence.

"Yeah but I'm not in love with her" Mike said. Micky slumped back in his chair.

"I guess you're right, I've got this really strong urge to call her as well, jeez this is so hard" He confessed.

From the Monkees pad to her own pad it usually took Lori half an hour to walk, but today it took her forty five minutes, due to tiredness slowing her down and the fact that she was deliberately walking a little slow because she wanted some time to think over the previous nights events. She couldn't believe she and Micky had stayed out all night not even realizing how late, or early, it had gotten. She thought about how at the beginning of the night, she had tried so hard to get rid of Micky but by the end of the night was trying so hard to find ways to stay with him longer. Maybe she liked him a little more then she first realized. She chuckled at the thought a little. She reached her front door and slipped the key in the lock and turned it, letting out a small yawn. As she pushed the door open someone grabbed her arms and pulled her inside. After she had gotten over the initial shock she realised the hands around her arms belonged to Lana.

"Where the hell have you been!? I've been worried sick!" Lana shouted. Lori giggled a little.

"Sorry mom!" She said.

"I'm glad you find it so funny, anything could've happened to you and I'd have no idea!" Lana told her. Lori could see the Lana was generally worried.

"I'm sorry, Lan, I didn't realize I'd be out so late and I just forgot to call. I am sorry."

"Well I suppose your back safely so apology accepted, now gimme a hug" Lana said and the two girls embraced.

"Thank you" Lori said.

"Just don't do it again okay."

"Yeah okay. Lana... I'm sorry for the way I've been acting towards you the past couple of weeks. You didn't deserve to be treated that way after you have done so much for me since I returned to America."

"It's okay. I understand I just wish you'd let me know what went on in that head of yours" Lana replied. They dispersed and Lori looked at her friend and sighed.

"Okay, look, something did happen to me in my past which is causing me to think twice about starting something with Micky, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet it still hurts. So just be patient with me, please? I promise as soon as I'm ready I'll tell you everything" Lori explained.

"Sure, take your time, I'm not going anywhere" Lana told her.

"Thank you."

"So where were you last night any way?"

"Down the beach mostly. We kinda ended up there after my university thing" Lori told her. Lana was a little confused.

"We? Who's we?"

"Myself and Micky" Lana's face broke out in to a wide grin.

"You were out all night with Micky! Really?"

"Yeah he came over to see me yesterday night I invited him to come with me to the open evening, after that we got something to eat then ended up on the beach where we stayed until about an hour ago."

"Wait this is the same Micky you've been avoiding over the past two weeks?"

"Yeah I know, that kinda surprised me too."

"So are you seeing him again?"

"I dunno we didn't make any plans, although I am gonna go see Mike later he deserves an apology as well, so Micky will probably be there, don't get too excited okay, Lan, Micky and I are not a couple you realize that don't you."

"Yeah of course I do, but you're on your way though this is so exciting. What made you change your mind about him any way?"

"I dunno really. I woke up yesterday morning feeling the same as every morning since Micky told me how he felt. I was scared of the way he felt but then we went out and talked you know, really talked, and I realized how lucky I was to have some one feel that way about me, and I do like Micky, I always have, you know that. So I told myself to stop being stupid, the past is the past and I can't do anything about it. I just have to move on right?"

"Exactly, here's to the future" Lana said and she and Lori clinked imaginary glasses.

"I'm gonna go to bed. I'm really tired" Lori said and with that she disappeared into her room.


	7. Chapter 7

Later that afternoon Lori had gotten up and decided to go and see Mike. She felt a little nervous and hoped the Texan would forgive her because she really valued his friendship. She arrived at the Monkees pad and knocked on the door, Davy opened it.

"Hello luv."

"Hi Davy, is Mike around?"

"Yeah sure come on in," He said and stepped aside so Lori could enter. As she came in she saw Peter sitting on the edge of the bandstand concentrating as he strummed away on his bass, Mike was busy cooking something in the kitchen and she couldn't see Micky at all. "Mike visitor" Davy said. Mike turned around and when he saw Lori his face lit up and he grinned.

"Hello you! Come and sit down," He told her. As she walked to the table she turned to Peter.

"Afternoon Peter" She called. Peter looked up a big dimple grin covering his face.

"Afternoon Lori, how are you today?"

"I'm a little tired but apart from that I'm fine, how are you?"

"Better now you're here. We've missed you around these parts" He replied putting on a Texan accent and earning a playful scowl from Mike.

"I've missed you guys too," Lori told him. Davy had sat himself on the sofa next to Mr. Schneider and Lori joined Mike at the kitchen table "Hi Mike."

"Hi Lolo, it's so good to see you I've missed you" Mike said he stopped whatever he was doing and sat on a chair next to her.

"I've missed you too. I've come to apologise to you."

"Whatever for?"

"Walking out the other day, it was unfair and I should not have done it" Lori told him.

"Well I guess I was a little out of order as well, so I don't blame you. I probably would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed, so you are forgiven" He told her.

"Thank you kind sir" Lori said, "Actually Mike there is something I wanted to say to you."

"Oh yeah what's that?"

"Well I can't tell you yet" She said Mike was a little confused.

"What? Why not?"

"Because I'm not ready yet, but what a can tell you is that you and Lana were right, there's something I haven't told you, something that happened in my past and like I told Lana, I will tell you just give me time, it's a little difficult for me to talk about right now, but when I'm ready I promise I'll tell you everything."

"Okay... should I be worried?" Mike asked already feeling worried.

"No, not at all. I'm fine, really, you don't have to worry," She told him.

"Alright, although I am already worried but I won't tell you that" Mike said and Lori giggled a little.

"Thank you, so are we friends again?"

"Of course we are, we never stopped" Mike told her and he gave her a hug.

"I know you may find this hard to believe but I actually think of you now as my best friend, I know we haven't known each other very long but I feel like I've known you forever" Lori confessed.

"I do believe it Lolo because I feel exactly the same way. I think of you as more then a friend, more like the baby sister I never had, I kinda love you."

"I love you too," Lori told him then they let go of each other.

"So how about we have that dinner date we missed, my treat," Lori suggested.

"Yeah that'll be great when were you thinking of?"

"Well I can't do it tonight because I've got a stack of work I need to catch up on, but how about tomorrow?"

"Yeah that's fine, so do you wanna stay for lunch?"

"I'd love to if you have enough" Lori really wanted to ask where Micky was but she didn't want to seem to eager.

"Of course I do, I always make way too much anyway" Mike told her. He got up and started preparing some more food.

"Can I help at all?"

"No it's okay, I've got it all under control, I'm glad you're here actually because I wanted to talk to you about Micky" Mike told her. Lori felt herself blush and was glad Mike had his back to her so he couldn't see.

"Oh yeah what about him?" She asked trying to sound as calm as possible.

"I hear you guys spent the night together."

"You make it sound so dirty" Lori said with a grin "We didn't spend the night together, we just spent the night together."

"Okay-" Mike couldn't help but feel confused "-so what's the difference?"

"It wasn't a sexual thing, we just got to know each other a little better that's all."

"Right, so did you want it to be a sexual thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you want to have sex?" Mike asked bluntly. Lori looked offended.

"Why Mr. Nesmith, I do believe you do not know me well enough to ask me something that personal."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I... didn't want to have sex with him last night no. A lot of stuff has happened in my life that has made me quite unhappy, but coming back to America and meeting you guys and Lana, well that has made it a lot easier to move on. Micky had made me believe in love again and I will always be grateful to him for that" Lori explained.

"So you do want to be with him" Mike said, it wasn't a question, Mike was just proving how much he really had gotten to her, like he could read the inner most thoughts of her soul just like any best friend should.

"Yeah I do" Lori agreed. Micky had heard Lori and Mike's entire conversation. He had been in bed ever since he had gotten back to the pad that morning, but when he heard Lori's voice he had crept out on to the balcony to listen to what she had to say. He had liked what he had heard. He went back into his bedroom, got dressed and waited for Mike to call him for lunch. He was glad Lori was staying and maybe now he could work up the courage to ask her out on a proper date! When Mike called him he waited a few minutes then walked down the spiral staircase as calmly as possible and tried to act casual because he wasn't suppose to know Lori was there, but he was finding it really difficult because he was so excited about seeing her again. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw her sitting on the edge of the bandstand with Peter, they were laughing hysterically at something and Micky watched them for a few moments, a small smile tugging at his lips, then he turned and headed to the kitchen. Davy was setting the table and Mike was busy making final preparations to the meal. Davy had moved the chair from Mr. Schneider's desk and put it at the table so Lori had somewhere to sit.

"What's up with those two?" Micky asked jerking his thumb in Peter and Lori's direction.

"I dunno, but it must be pretty funny, they haven't stopped giggling for the past twenty minutes" Davy told him.

"Okay guys, lunch is served" Mike called. Lori and Peter came over to the table.

"Hello Micky" Lori said.

"Hi Lori" They smiled at each other. Lori could feel her cheeks turning a little pink. Micky really wanted to ask her out there and then but he would've been too embarrassed with the guys there as well. They sat at the table and Mike served the food.

Lunch lasted a little over an hour. Lori found it a lot easier to talk to Micky this time and they had quite a long conversation just the two of them. When lunch was over Peter and Lori returned to their spot on the bandstand while Davy helped Mike with the dishes. Micky wasn't quite sure what to do with himself, so he ended up out on the veranda. Lori used this time alone with Peter to ask him a question that had been bothering her for a while now.

"Pete, what happened between Lana and Mike? Why did they break up? Whenever I ask them they go all quiet and change the subject," Lori asked quietly so that Mike would not hear.

"I'm sorry, Lor, I can't tell you that," Peter said.

"Oh right, yeah, I'm sorry she's your sister and it's none of my business" Lori said although she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"No it's not that, I can't tell you because I don't know myself. Neither one of them will tell me either, none of us know."

"Why are they keeping it such a big secret?"

"I dunno, but it must have been pretty serious if Lana won't tell me, she usually tells me everything" Peter explained.

"What were they like before they split?"

"They were really close and very much in love. We all thought they'd get married but about three or four months before they split something changed. They started acting differently toward each other, which came as a bit of a shock to us, they had been fine one minute and then suddenly they lost interest in each other almost over night, then they told us they'd split up."

"What were they like after?"

"Well, Mike kinda withdrew from us for a while. He'd spend a lot of time in his room and hardly ever came out. We were really worried about him" Peter explained.

"And Lana?"

"Lana was a total mess, she cried a lot of the time, almost non stop for ages. I ended up moving in with her for a while because she wasn't taking care of herself, she stopped going to work and eventually lost her job, it was a really difficult time for them both and definitely not a way I'd like to see them again."

"They seem like pretty good friends now though."

"Yeah they are, that's mine, Davy and Micky's fault. We wouldn't let them go on ignoring each other so we made up scams of ways for them to accidentally run into each other, they found us out in the end though, but we didn't care because our plan half worked."

"Why only half?" Lori questioned.

"Our original plan was to get them back together, but when we realized that would never happen, we just let them get on and be friends and I think it worked out quite nicely" Peter said obviously proud of himself and his friends.

"So do you think they'll ever get back together?"

"Who knows, I hope so because they were great together but I suppose only time will tell" Peter told her.

Micky had been sitting on the veranda alone for ten minutes watching the waves roll up and then away from the sand on the beach below the pad.

"It's a beautiful view isn't it" Came a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw Lori standing in the doorway. She had left Peter and noticed Micky sitting out side by himself.

"Yeah it really is" He said talking more about Lori then the sea view which Lori picked up on and smiled and blushed a little.

"May I join you?"

"Of course. I'd love you to" Micky replied, so Lori came out and sat on the wall next to him.

"Thank you for the last night, Micky, or rather this morning, I had a really great time."

"Me too, we'll have to do it again sometime, well except the staying out all night part, `cos I'm pretty tired today" He confessed.

I know what you mean so am I I've never done that before not even when I was with-" Lori cut herself off" -you know what never mind" Micky was a little intrigued. Lori had almost mentioned something she clearly didn't want him to know about and he couldn't help but wonder what it was. Lori seemed to have gone somewhere in her memory, her eyes were fixed on the ocean, thinking of something that obviously caused her pain because a small tear trickled down her cheek.

"Is everything okay, Lori? Is there anything you want to talk about?" He asked her, concern etched on his face.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thank you. There's nothing I want to talk about, you're probably sick of talking to me today" She told him, he caressed her cheek with his finger.

"I don't think I could ever be sick of you" He told her. Lori smiled and ran the back of her hand down the side of his face. Micky leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Lori was a little surprised at first and they gazed at each other for a few moments before melting into each other and kissed more passionately this time, they stood up and Micky pulled her close and they wrapped their arms around each other, it was a kiss filled with hunger and wanting. The other three Monkees hadn't realized what was going on until Mike walked out and saw them.

"Oh... I... er sorry guys but there's a phone call for you Micky" He said. Micky reluctantly pulled away from Lori but kept his eyes closed.

"I'm a little busy here, Mike" He replied.

"I know I'm sorry but it's your mom" Mike told him, he was clearly embarrassed. Micky sighed heavily. "Sorry about this" Micky told Lori.

"It's okay," She said. He kissed her gently again and went back inside. Lori was smiling from ear to ear, she watched Micky leave then noticed Mike grinning at her.

"So." he said and came over to her.

"What?" She asked acting innocent but she couldn't stop smiling.

"You guys have come along way since you ran out on him."

"Hey, that's a bit below the belt! But completely true, my heart's all a flutter."

"Aw true love's first kiss" Mike teased.

"Well I wouldn't say that, but it was nice."

"Nice! Is that it! just nice?"

"It was intense in a very, very good way. My knees went weak and my brain stopped functioning for a moment. I've never felt that way before."

"Why do I feel a `but' coming along" Mike asked.

"I can't be in love again. It only causes hurt and pain and heartache and I can't do that again, Mike, I just can't" Lori told him. Mike was a little confused.

"Again?"

"I'm gonna go, tell Micky I'll see him later" She said. She stood up and walked to the door.

"Hey Lolo, you still wanna meet up for dinner tomorrow?" Mike called. Mike really couldn't figure out what was going on in her head, one minute she wanted to be with Micky, then the next she didn't, but he was determined to find out what was wrong and help her out in whatever way he could. Micky didn't notice Lori leave and when he got off the phone with his mom, he went back to the veranda. Mike was still out there, alone.

"Where'd Lori go?" Micky asked.

"She left a few minutes ago" Mike informed him.

"Oh god, I did it again, I made her run out on me again" Micky dropped down on the wall and put his head in his hands.

"No, shotgun, I think it was my fault this time."

"Your fault? Why what happened?" He asked looking up at Mike.

"You know, I'm not really sure" Mike confessed he was genuinely concerned about his new friend. He faced the drummer "Micky if things go any further with Lori, you will be gentle and honest with her, won't you?"

"Of course I will, Mike no question, why did you ask me that?"

"Well, I've gotten the feeling Lori has been hurt real bad in the past, just some stuff she has said have lead me to believe it" Mike said.

"Yeahg I got the same feeling when we were talking last night" Micky told him. Mike was quiet for a moment.

"Take care of her, okay? I'm not sure what's going on with her but I don't want her to be unhappy" He said finally.

"No neither do I, I promise you Mike if Lori and I do get together I will look after her" Micky reassured him.

When Lori arrived home she went straight to her bedroom and burst into tears. She could feel herself falling in love with Micky and she thought she was ready for that, until he kissed her and then her talk with Mike afterwards and she realized she didn't want that to happen, not this time, not just as she was finally starting to get her life back together. Lana had seen her come in and flee to her bedroom, she followed her and knocked lightly on the door. "Lor, you okay?" She asked.

Lori sat up and wiped her eyes. "Yeah I'm fine Lan" She lied.

"It sounds like you're crying" Lori could hear the concern in Lana's voice.

"No, I'm not. I'm fine, I promise."

"Oh okay, what do you fancy for dinner tonight?"

"Nothing for me thanks. I'm not really that hungry tonight" Lori told her.

"Okay. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I told you I was, I'm fine but I'd really like to be alone right now, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, of course, no problem. Sorry" Lana said. Lana couldn't help but worry about her roommate. Ever since she had introduced Lori to Micky something in Lori had changed. She seemed really unhappy. Lana really wanted to know what had happened in Lori's past to make her so frightened of falling in love with Micky.

The next evening Mike arrived at Lana and Lori's pad. Lori had not emerged from her room since she had arrived home the previous afternoon.

"See if you can find out what's going on with her, she's been in her room since yesterday afternoon. I'm pretty sure she's been crying, she says she isn't but I can hear her" Lana told Mike.

"I'll try my best, Lan, but I can't make her tell me anything she's not ready to tell me."

"Yeah I know, but you have to try. I'm really worried about her."

"I know. She seemed fine until Micky kissed her."

"Micky kissed her? Did she kiss him back?"

"From where I was standing she was definitely kissing him back, but afterwards she told me she couldn't fall in love again because it caused her too much pain"

"She's been in love before? Maybe that's why she's so afraid of falling in love with Micky, this other guy must've caused her heart break."

"Must've been a pretty intense relationship if it's keeping her from giving into her feelings" Mike said mainly to himself, he thought for a moment then faced Lana "I will find out what's going on with her, Lan, I promise" Mike said.

"I hope so. I really want to see her and Micky together. I know they'd be so happy" Lana replied.

Mike went over and knocked on Lori's door. "Hi, Shotgun, are you ready?" He called through the closed door. Lori hadn't realized what time it was, she jumped up from her bed.

"Just a minute, Mike, I'll be out in a second" she dried her eyes changed her clothes and fixed her make-up. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door "Hi sweetheart let's go" She said walking past the Texan. Mike followed "Bye Lana" Lori called as she disappeared out the front door.

"Bye."

"Bye Lana, I'll try and talk to her I really will" Mike told her and he followed Lori out the door. Lori was already seated in the passenger seat of the Monkeemobile, so Mike hopped in the driving seat and started the engine "So where do you fancy going to eat?" He asked. Lori shrugged.

"I don't mind really. Wherever you chose will be fine" She replied Mike gave a silent sigh and put the car into gear.

"Okay, well there's this Chinese place Mick-" He cut himself off mid-word "-Er someone, has been begging me to try, so we can go there," He said. He wasn't sure whether or not he should mention Micky's name at the moment so he made a mental note to himself to remember not to just yet. Lana watched them drive off and silently prayed Mike could figure out what was bothering Lori.


End file.
